Nationalism and Patriotism – two Sides of One Coin or Antipodes? Two Constructs on the Empirical Test Bench

Expressions such as nation, national identity, nationalism and patriotism are dominating the current political debate in Germany and in other parts of the world. In this context, some scholars are speaking of a "renaissance of nationalism" (Geulen 2018) reflected in the rise of righ-wing parties. The Brexit – the UK's withdrawal from the EU – and the election of Donald Trump as president of the US in 2016 are famous examples of the ongoing political development. As result, national interpretative patterns are getting more and more attention and put post-national and cosmopolitain beliefs and convictions in the background. Looking more closely at the latest political debates it is striking that both terms – nationalism and patriotism – are used inflationary: in some cases they are seen as antonyms, in other cases they are regarded as synonyms. The vague and imprecise usage of these constructs is not only stated in the actual political debate, but can also be identified in the academic discourse. Whether nationalism and patriotism represent two significantly distinct latent factors or whether they constitute one factor is disputed. Some papers empirically demonstrate a high correlation between these two constructs – but they lack an explanation for this finding. In my dissertation project I want to close this research gap – at least for the case of Germany. By conducting an exploratory factor analysis and a confirmatory factor analysis I want to examine if nationalism and patriotism – from a statistical point of view –empirically compose one latent factor or two explicitly distinct factors. However, I do not only aim to elaborate the distinction between nationalism and patriotism. The dissertation project also seeks to develop new measurement instruments in order to quantify both constructs in a more valid way. Since the academic discourse is marked by inconsistent empirical findings, there is a need to improve the way we measure these complex constructs. 
 In this paper I want to give an overview of the conceptual part of my thesis. Firstly, I will shed light on the term "nation“ since both research objects – nationalism and patriotism – refer to the nation as common reference point. The leading research question in this matter will be the following: What kind of nation concepts do exist? On which nation concepts are nationalism and patriotism based on? Secondly, I will point out the definitions and concepts of both nationalism and patriotism. The paper will represent the definitions dominating the academic discourse. In this respect, I want analyze if there are any consistencies and inconsistencies among these definitions. The paper will close with an outlook implying open questions.